Meta-Dialogue Series: Can Different Realities Coexist?

Bobby Powell runs a radio program out of Michigan called “The Truth is Viral.” In his journalistic efforts, he has attempted to uncover a cabal of sexual predators that he believes to hold power in Washington DC, implicated federal law enforcement in a plot with Antifa radicals to stage the January 6th Capitol attack as a false flag operation, and made other equally extraordinary claims. He is loud and unapologetic in his beliefs, which include that people living in the United States illegally are draining public resources and impoverishing Americans, that gender nonconformity is a mental illness, that everyone has the ability and responsibility to pick themselves up by their bootstraps, and that America is rapidly turning away from God and Christianity to its ultimate peril.

Alice L Maher is psychiatrist and psychoanalyst from New York City and the founder of Waging Dialogue. Over the past several years, she has formed an unlikely but close bond with Bobby. In keeping with her lifelong mission of bridging the most significant human divides, she has engaged with him across many issues from the political, to the philosophical, to the deeply personal.

On April 30th, Dr. Maher will be joined by four of her colleagues from the psychological community to grapple with a question of great relevance to our time: is it possible for people to have meaningful communication when the gap between their world views is so great that they seem to exist in a different reality?

Each of our four guest panelists will present and then lead a discussion on a short clip from a recorded conversation between Alice and Bobby. The entire conversation can be viewed on our YouTube Channel (see below). Following this portion, panelists will have additional time to engage with Dr. Maher about her entire history of interactions with Bobby Powell. They will question her on her goals and challenge her to demonstrate the value of her experiences. Collectively, they will explore how much we can truly understand “the other.”

The discussion will run for 1 ½ hours, followed by an audience Q & A

For panelist bios and additional information on Waging Dialogue’s Meta-Dialogue Project, visit: Wagingdialogue.org/engage

Alice and Bobby’s conversation: youtube.com/watch?v=WTqbVLOxigo